Book Club: The Gifts of Imperfection

To me, being a superhero goes beyond the physical — parkour-like skills, lean muscles, and never-quit attitude in the face of adversity. A true superhero is also emotionally and mentally fit: balanced, secure, and optimistic. That combination of the physical and mental is what defines a complete badass.I’ve been reading Brene Brown’s blog Ordinary Courage for a few months, ever since Dave read and recommended her book The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are. I’m ready to dig into her very popular, well-received book and thought y’all might like to join me. (Our virtual book club around Primal Body, Primal Mind was a success, so I’m ready to do it again.)

Update

How It Works

If you’d like to join us, all you need to do is get a copy of the book The Gifts of Imperfection and start reading. It would be great if you could post to comments to let me know you’re officially in. I think it would be fun to know how many of us are reading together – and it would be nice to let Brene Brown know about the discussion group we’ll soon have going over here.

The Timeline

The book is a breezy 138 pages, divided into “Guideposts” instead of chapters. Here’s how we’ll break it up for our discussion:
Pages 1-48 (intro pages up to the beginning of Guidepost #1) – Monday, February 13
Pages 48-85 (Guidepost #1 though Guidepost #4) – Monday, February 20
Pages 86-130 (Guidepost #5 throrugh the end) – Monday, February 27

For our discussion, I’ll post a few questions to you to get the ball rolling, and you can post to comments to share your thoughts.

About The Gifts of Imperfection

Here’s the blurb from Amazon:

Each day we face a barrage of images and messages from society and the media telling us who, what, and how we should be. We are led to believe that if we could only look perfect and lead perfect lives, we’d no longer feel inadequate. So most of us perform, please, and perfect, all the while thinking, “What if I can’t keep all of these balls in the air? Why isn’t everyone else working harder and living up to my expectations? What will people think if I fail or give up? When can I stop proving myself?”

In her ten guideposts, Brown engages our minds, hearts, and spirits as she explores how we can cultivate the courage, compassion, and connection…

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Comments

Sounds like the perfect read for me … thanks for the tip, and hopefully I will remember to participate in the discussion. Thanks also for the amazing cookbook … got me out of my rut and back to enjoying paleo cooking. (And my husband profusely thanks you for the Scotch Eggs recipe — I am now required to make a double batch every Sunday, so he has grab-and-go breakfast food.)

I just finished “The gifts of imperfection” a few months ago and it was life changing. I especially like her calls to “dig deep” when it comes to engaging in activities that relax and rejuvenate you. I have always reserved my “dig deep” energy for working harder and hadn’t considered the need to play harder. I now find myself “digging deep” and moving away from mindless web surfing to running that weekday bubble bath or enjoying a good book on audio while creating in the kitchen. I admire Brene Brown’s research background and how she is inspiring others to live a more connected, compassionate, and courageous life from that work.

I LOVE Brene’s work and took her Ordinary Courage e-course last year reading her first book ‘I thought it was just me’ which was amazing so would love to join this. I will be listening to the book on Audible, can you let me know what the breakdown of the pages relates to in terms of chapters?

Can’t wait to join in and looking forward to receiving my Well Fed book soon as well!

I downloaded her book onto a Kindle which doesn’t tell me which page I am on (it tell me percentage of the book that’s read instead) … can anyone that has the book in hand tell me what chapter or title of the chapter starts page 48? Thank you so much!

Just downloaded it to my Kindle, I’m in. I have always wanted to participate in a book club but I’m a flight attendant and usually miss too many of the discussion groups…this is perfect for me!

BTW…I had a super Well Fed day…Egg Foo Yong for breakfast with the secret sauce using the homemade mayo, baked up the Italian Sausage (used ground turkey instead of pork) and Eggplant Strata to have for the week and made the Bora Bora Fireballs for dinner (can I just say you are a genius?). Thanks for such a great cookbook, I truly haven’t had one thing that wasn’t completely fabulous!

I just finished reading the book but would love the opportunity to read it with a club. I can tell you this – I got so much out of it the first time around, I know that I will get even more the second.

Mel…just ordered Brene’s book from Amazon…..count me in. Recently lost 35 lbs through a combination of weight watchers and Paleo living…..learned to change HOW I eat for the first time in my life. I came across your website, ordered the PDF of your book and have made the chili twice in two weeks….it is amazing!!! Looking forward to working through your cookbook….and, by the way, we both share a definite fondness for cumin!

I am currently reading the Gifts of Imperfection and was very surprised at how much this book related to my every day life. I finished Guidepost #1 yesterday and just sat there thinking, wow someone else thinks just like me! The book is very good at outlining some of the issues or concerns we face and giving you an example of them and then how to correct your thinking. I look forward to reading along with everyone on here and reading your comments!

I fell in love with Brene after watching her TED talk. I read The Gifts of Imperfection a year ago and it made a huge impact. I just started to re-read it and am so excited to join the group! Thanks for putting it together!